Can Huntsman impede the Bobby Jindal bandwagon?

Today’s a big day in the 2012 race for the White House with prominent Republicans trying to position themselves as the best person to take on Barack Obama.

Governors have been holding one of their regular meetings and tonight the young bright hope for the party, the Oxford-educated Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, will be making his party’s response to Obama’s address to a joint session of congress. This is a big moment which will give him great national prominence.

Already the 37 year old son of immigrants from India has positioned himself to the right of the party by publicly stating that his state will not accept some parts of Obama’s stimulus package.

This sets him apart from the man who’s emerging as the front-runner from the pragmatic wing of the party, Jon Huntsman – the governor of Utah who has made it clear that his state will accept the federal cash. So it’s more than a clash of personalities but a difference of philosophies.

One person who is notable by her absence from the meeting has been Sarah Palin.

From the videos I’ve watched I’ve been more impressed by Huntsman and think that his centre-ground approach might make him better placed in the fight for the nomination. It will be interesting to see how Jindal performs.

In the Republican Nominee betting you can get both Jindal and Huntsman at 10/1.

In the Next President market you can get 20/1 on Huntsman and 25/1 on Jindal. The former is a lot tighter than the 200/1 that was available three months ago when he was tipped here.